368. Section 356 applies to Load Line ships not registered in Canada proceeding or attempting to proceed to sea from places in Canada, as it applies to Load Line Convention ships registered in Canada, subject to the following modifications:

(a) section 356 does not apply to a Load Line Convention ship not registered in Canada, if a valid Load Line Convention Certificate is produced in respect of the ship; and

(b) subject to paragraph (a), a foreign ship that does not comply with the conditions of assignment to the extent required in its case by section 356 shall be deemed to be unsafe for the purpose of section 392.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 429.

369. Section 357 applies to Load Line ships not registered in Canada, while they are within any port in Canada, as it applies to Load Line ships registered in Canada, subject to the following modifications:

(a) no Load Line Convention ship shall be detained, and no proceedings shall be taken against the owner or master thereof, under section 357 except after an inspection by a steamship inspector as provided in this Part; and

(b) the expression “the appropriate load line”, in relation to any ship not registered in Canada, means

(i) in the case of a Load Line Convention ship in respect of which there is produced on inspection a valid Load Line Convention Certificate, the Load Line appearing by the certificate to indicate the maximum depth to which the ship is for the time being entitled under the Load Line Convention to be loaded, and

(ii) in any other case, the load line that corresponds with the load line indicating the maximum depth to which the ship is for the time being entitled under the Load Line Rules to be loaded or, if no load line on the ship so corresponds, the lowest load line thereon.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 430.

370. (1) The Minister may cause a Load Line Certificate to be issued, in a form approved by him, in respect of any Load Line ship registered elsewhere than in Canada, and not being a Load Line Convention ship, which certificate may be known as a Special Load Line Certificate.

(2) The provisions of this Act relating to the issue, duration, renewal and cancellation of Load Line Convention Certificates apply to Special Load Line Certificates.

(3) Where the Minister certifies

(a) that by the law in force in any Commonwealth country other than Canada provision has been made for the fixing, marking and certifying of load lines on British ships, or any class or description of British ships, registered in that Commonwealth country, or

(b) that by the law in force in any foreign country provision has been made for the fixing, marking and certifying of load lines on ships, or any class or description of ships, registered in that country and has also been so made, or has been agreed to be so made, for recognizing Load Line Convention Certificates issued in Canada as having the same effect in ports of that country as certificates issued under that provision,

and that the provision for the fixing, marking and certifying of load lines is based on the same principles as the corresponding provisions of this Part and is equally effective, the Governor in Council may direct that Load Line Certificates issued pursuant to that provision in respect of British ships, or that class or description of British ships, registered in that Commonwealth country, or in respect of ships, or that class or description of ships, of that foreign country, as the case may be, have the same effect for the purpose of this Part as Special Load Line Certificates issued in Canada pursuant to this section.

(4) Paragraph (3)(a) applies with respect to any foreign country in which for the time being Her Majesty has jurisdiction, as if that country were a Commonwealth country.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 431.

371. Subject to section 372, the master of every Load Line ship, other than a Canadian ship or a Load Line Convention ship not registered in Canada, shall produce to the officer of customs, from whom a clearance for the ship from any port in Canada is demanded, either a Special Load Line Certificate or a certificate having effect under this Act as that Certificate, being a certificate for the time being in force in respect of the ship, and a clearance shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until the certificate is produced.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 432.

372. The Minister may authorize the clearance of any ship to which section 371 applies without the certificate therein provided for on the following conditions:

(a) that only such amount of cargo is carried as in the opinion of a port warden, or other competent person directed by the Minister to examine the ship, is sufficient to allow the ship to make a voyage in safety; and

(b) that, in the opinion of a steamship inspector, the hull, boilers, machinery and equipment of the ship are in good order and sufficient for the voyage contemplated.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 433.

373. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations, in this section referred to as the “timber cargo regulations”, respecting the conditions on which timber may be carried as cargo outside Canada in any uncovered space on the deck of any Load Line ship.

(2) The timber cargo regulations shall contain such regulations as appear to the Governor in Council to be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Load Line Convention.

(3) Subject to subsection (2), the timber cargo regulations may prescribe generally the conditions on which timber may be carried as deck cargo outside Canada in any Load Line ship on all voyages or on any particular class of voyages and at all seasons or at any particular season, and in particular may prescribe the manner and position in which the timber is to be stowed and the provision that is to be made on the ship for the safety of the crew.

(4) Where a Load Line ship is about to make a voyage carrying a deck cargo of timber from Canada, the owner or master shall have the ship inspected by a port warden, or other person directed thereto in writing by the Minister who shall, if he is satisfied that he can do so with propriety, give a certificate showing that the ship is suitable for the carriage of deck cargoes of timber, and that the cargo is properly stowed and secured in accordance with the timber cargo regulations.

(5) In the absence of a port warden or other person directed by the Minister, the certificate mentioned in subsection (4) shall be given by the master and deposited with the chief officer of customs at the port before the ship clears on its voyage, and that officer shall refuse to clear the ship unless the certificate is deposited with him.

(6) No ship described in subsection (4) shall proceed unless it has on board the certificate mentioned in that subsection, which shall be produced on demand of the chief officer of customs at any port.

(7) For any contravention or attempted contravention of this section, the owner or master of any ship is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than twenty-five hundred dollars and not less than one hundred dollars, but in any proceedings against a master in respect of a contravention of the timber cargo regulations, it is a good defence to prove that the contravention was due solely to deviation or delay, the deviation or delay being caused solely by stress of weather or other circumstances that neither the master, the owner nor the charterer, if any, could have prevented or forestalled.

(8) The regulations made under this section may contain appropriate provisions applying to any Load Line ship loaded with a timber deck cargo that is at any place in Canada.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 373; R.S., 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp.), s. 213.

374. Where any provision of the Load Line Convention to which the Governor in Council is required by this Part to give effect by any rules or regulations is amended pursuant to Article 20 of that Convention, the Governor in Council may amend the rules or regulations accordingly.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 435.

375. (1) For the purposes of this section and section 376, “new ship” means a ship in excess of seventy-nine feet in length that is not a fishing vessel or pleasure craft, the keel of which is laid or construction of the hull of which is commenced on or after April 14, 1973.

(2) The Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) to carry out and give effect to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, signed at London on April 5, 1966, as amended in London on October 12, 1971 and November 15, 1979, including any amendments, whenever made, to the Annexes to that Convention;

(b) establishing load line requirements for new ships making voyages between Canada and the United States on any lake or river or making voyages from any place in Canada to any other place in Canada;

(c) prescribing special provisions respecting load lines for new ships not registered in Canada that are proceeding or attempting to proceed to sea from Canada or that are within any port in Canada;

(d) providing for the application to a ship other than a new ship of regulations made under this section where such application is requested by or on behalf of the owner of that ship; and

(e) providing for the inspection of ships to which regulations made under this section apply and the detention of those ships that do not meet the requirements of such regulations.

(2.1) Subject to subsection (2.2), a copy of each regulation that the Governor in Council proposes to make under paragraph (2)(a) shall be published in the Canada Gazette at least ninety days before the proposed effective date thereof, and a reasonable opportunity within those ninety days shall be afforded to ship owners, masters, seamen and other interested persons to make representations to the Minister with respect thereto.

(2.2) Subsection (2.1) does not apply in respect of a proposed regulation that

(a) has previously been published pursuant to that subsection, whether or not it has been changed as a result of representations made pursuant to that subsection, or

(b) makes no substantive change to an existing regulation,

nor does subsection (2.1) apply where the Governor in Council is satisfied that an emergency situation exists and that compliance with subsection (2.1) would therefore be prejudicial to the public interest.

(3) The owner or master of a ship who contravenes any regulation made under subsection (2) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

(4) The owner or master of a ship that is loaded so as to submerge the appropriate load line of the ship beyond the limits of submergence for that ship as determined by regulations made under subsection (2) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and to an additional fine not exceeding five hundred dollars for each inch or fraction of an inch by which the appropriate load line of the ship is submerged beyond the limits of submergence for that ship.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 375; R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 54; 1998, c. 16, s. 23.

376. (1) Subject to subsection (2), sections 352 to 374 do not apply to new ships.

(2) Section 364 applies, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to new ships registered in Canada.

(3) For the purpose of this section, “new ship” includes a ship to which regulations made under subsection 375(2) are made applicable pursuant to paragraph (d) of that subsection.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 437.

377. (1) Where a Canadian ship has received any material damage affecting its seaworthiness or its efficiency, either in its hull, machinery or equipment, the owner or master shall, as soon as possible, forward a report to the Chairman, giving full particulars in the matter, and the ship shall not go from any place in Canada until it has been put in good seaworthy condition to the satisfaction of a steamship inspector with respect to the hull, machinery or equipment, as the case may be.

(2) Where, in the case of any Canadian ship, any part of the hull, equipment or machinery has been altered or renewed so as to affect its compliance with the regulations made under this Part, in accordance with which any certificate has been issued in respect of the ship, the owner or master shall forthwith report the matter to the Chairman, and the ship shall not go from any place in Canada until it has been re-inspected and a certificate issued in accordance with the conditions found to exist.

(3) If the owner or master of a ship fails, without reasonable cause, to report to the Chairman as required under this section, the master shall be deemed to be guilty of misconduct, and the owner is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than five hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars, and if the ship goes on any voyage it shall be deemed to be making a voyage without having a certificate, or certificates, as may be required under this Part.

(4) This section has effect in respect of any Canadian ship that is at a port outside Canada, except that where it would be impracticable or unreasonable to have the ship inspected by a steamship inspector, the inspection may be postponed until the ship returns to Canada, but the master of the ship is not relieved from the obligation of putting the ship in good seaworthy condition for any contemplated voyage with respect to the hull, machinery or equipment, as the case may be.

(5) This section applies to every ship registered elsewhere than in Canada with respect to which any certificate has been issued under this Part.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 438.

378. Every person who knowingly and wilfully makes or assists in making, or procures to be made, a false or fraudulent report of inspection or survey with the object of having issued in respect of any ship any certificate provided for under this Part, or forges or assists in forging, or procures to be forged, fraudulently alters, assists in fraudulently altering, or procures to be fraudulently altered, any such report or certificate, or anything contained in, or any signature to, such report or certificate, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 439.

379. Every owner, master or engineer of a steamship who alters or deals with the safety valves, or allows them to be altered or dealt with, whereby a greater pressure of steam may be obtained on a boiler than the pressure allowed by the inspector who last inspected the boilers of the steamship is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than one hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars, and, in the case of an engineer, is liable to have his certificate suspended.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 379; R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 87(F).

379.1 (1) The Minister may, on application, designate

(a) ships or classes of ships as special purpose ships; and

(b) persons or classes of persons on board special purpose ships as special purpose personnel.

(2) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

(a) the operation of special purpose ships; and

(b) the function, role and activities of special purpose personnel on board special purpose ships.

1998, c. 16, s. 9.

380. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations in respect of passenger steamships registered in Canada, requiring

(a) that hinged watertight doors and other appliances for closing openings in watertight bulkheads, side scuttles, gangway doors and like appliances shall be closed before a steamship proceeds to sea, and shall be kept closed while the steamship is at sea;

(b) that watertight doors shall be kept closed while a steamship is at sea, other than when it may be necessary for the working of the ship to have them open;

(c) that ash chutes, rubbish chutes, or similar appliances shall be kept securely closed except when in use;

(d) that there shall be periodic drills of the opening and closing of watertight doors and periodic inspections of those doors and other appliances fitted in watertight bulkheads;

(e) that there shall be periodic boat and fire drills;

(f) that the master of a steamship shall keep a record, entered in the official log-book of the steamship where an official log-book is required to be kept, or in the agreement with the crew where an official log-book is not required to be kept, of

(i) the time of opening and closing of watertight doors or other appliances required to be kept closed at sea,

(ii) the time of opening and closing of watertight doors that may be required to be opened at sea for the working of a steamship,

(iii) every occasion on which watertight doors are opened, closed or inspected and on which boat drills take place, and

(iv) every occasion on which boat drills or fire-drills are practised and every occasion when life-saving appliances and fire-extinguishing equipment are examined to see that they have been maintained in the same condition as when the certificate of inspection was issued and if the drills are not practised or the examinations are not made in accordance with the regulations, the reason therefor;

(g) that specific duties to be carried out by each member of the crew in an emergency shall be assigned; and

(h) that an efficient fire patrol system shall be maintained when passengers are on board.

(2) The regulations made under this section shall provide that the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to watertight doors and other contrivances shall be complied with in every passenger ship registered in Canada that carries more than twelve passengers on an international voyage.

(3) If any regulations made under this section are contravened, the master is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 380; R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 55.

381. (1) The master of any Canadian ship on meeting with dangerous ice, a dangerous derelict or other direct dangers to navigation, a tropical storm, winds of a force of ten or more on the Beaufort scale for which no storm warning has been received or subfreezing air temperatures associated with gale force winds and causing severe ice accretion on the superstructure of his ship shall, in the manner prescribed by the regulations, send information thereof to all ships in the vicinity and to such authorities on shore as may be prescribed by the regulations.

(2) If the master of a ship fails to comply with this section, or with the regulations made thereunder, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars.

(3) Every person in charge of a radio station in Canada or on board any Canadian ship shall, on receiving the signal prescribed in the regulations for indicating that a message is about to be sent under this section, refrain from sending messages for a time sufficient to allow other stations to receive the message, and if so required by the Minister shall transmit the message in such a manner as may be required by the Minister, and compliance with this section shall be deemed to be a condition of every licence granted by the Minister under this Act and of every radio licence issued by the Minister of Industry under the Radiocommunication Act.

(4) For the purposes of this section, a “tropical storm” means a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone or other storm of a similar nature, and a master of a ship shall be deemed to have met with a tropical storm if he has reason to believe there is such a storm in the vicinity.

(5) The transmission of messages pursuant to this section shall be free of cost to the steamships concerned, and any expense for the transmission of those messages that would, but for this provision, fall on the ship, shall, in so far as they are not otherwise defrayed, be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 381; 1989, c. 17, s. 11; 1995, c. 1, s. 62.

382. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations with respect to what signals shall be signals of distress and urgency, and the signals prescribed by the regulations shall be deemed to be signals of distress and urgency.

(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) shall prescribe, in so far as is necessary and expedient, the circumstances in which, and the purposes for which, any signals prescribed by those regulations are to be used, the circumstances in which they are to be revoked and the speed at which any message sent by radio-telegraphy in connection with a signal is to be transmitted, and those regulations shall make such provision as appears to the Governor in Council to be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to Regulation 9 of Chapter V of the Safety Convention in so far as it relates to misuse of distress signals.

(3) If a master of a ship uses or displays, or causes or permits any person under his authority to use or display,

(a) any signal prescribed by regulations made under this section, except in the circumstances and for the purposes prescribed by those regulations, or

(b) any private signal, whether registered or not, that is liable to be mistaken for any signal so prescribed,

he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars and is further liable to pay compensation for any labour undertaken, risk incurred or loss sustained, in consequence of the signal having been supposed to be a signal of distress or urgency, and that compensation may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered in the same manner in which salvage is recoverable.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 443.

383. (1) Where the owner of a ship desires to use for the purposes of a private code any rockets, lights or other similar signals that are not such as are liable to be mistaken for a signal of distress or urgency, he may register those signals with the Minister who shall give proper notice of the signals so registered.

(2) The Minister may refuse to register any signals that, in his opinion, cannot easily be distinguished from signals of distress, signals for pilots, signals of urgency or signals prescribed for indicating that a message is about to be sent relating to a danger.

(3) The registration of any signal does not relieve any person from the obligations of complying with section 382.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 444.

384. (1) The master of a Canadian ship at sea, on receiving a signal from any source that a ship or aircraft or survival craft thereof is in distress, shall proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress informing them if possible that he is doing so, but if he is unable or, in the special circumstances of the case, considers it unreasonable or unnecessary to proceed to their assistance, he shall enter in the official log-book of the ship the reason for failing to proceed to the assistance of those persons.

(2) The master of any ship in distress may, after consultation, in so far as possible, with the masters of the ships that answer his distress signal, requisition one or more of those ships that he considers best able to render assistance, and it is the duty of the master of any Canadian ship that is so requisitioned to comply with the requisition by continuing to proceed with all speed to the assistance of the ship in distress.

(3) The master of a ship shall be released from the obligation imposed by subsection (1) when he learns that one or more ships other than his own have been requisitioned and are complying with the requisition.

(4) The master of a ship shall be released from the obligation imposed by subsection (1), and, if his ship has been requisitioned, from the obligation imposed by subsection (2), if he is informed by the persons in the ship in distress or by the master of another ship that has reached those persons that assistance is no longer necessary.

(5) If the master of a Canadian ship contravenes this section he is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

(6) Nothing in this section affects the provisions of section 451 and compliance by the master of a ship with this section does not affect his right, or the right of any other person, to salvage.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 445.

385. (1) The Minister may designate persons, to be known as rescue coordinators, to organize search and rescue operations in Canadian waters and on the high seas off the coasts of Canada.

(2) On being informed that a vessel or aircraft or survival craft thereof is in distress or is missing in Canadian waters or on the high seas off any of the coasts of Canada under circumstances that indicate it may be in distress, a rescue coordinator may

(a) order all vessels within an area specified by him to report their positions to him;

(b) order any vessel to take part in a search for that vessel, aircraft or survival craft or to otherwise render assistance; and

(c) give such other orders as he deems necessary to carry out search and rescue operations for that vessel, aircraft or survival craft.

(3) Every master or person in charge of a vessel in Canadian waters or a Canadian vessel on the high seas off the coasts of Canada who fails to comply with an order given by a rescue coordinator or a person acting under his direction is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

(4) No master or person in charge of a vessel shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (3) if he establishes that compliance with an order of a rescue coordinator or person acting under the direction thereof would have exposed his vessel or tow or persons on board it to serious danger.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 446.

386. (1) The master of a Canadian ship, when ice is reported to be on or near his course, shall at night either proceed at a moderate speed or change his course so as to keep amply clear of the ice reported, and of the area of danger.

(2) If the master of a ship contravenes this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 447.

387. (1) No person on any Canadian ship shall, when the ship is going ahead,

(a) give a helm or steering order containing the word “starboard” or “right”, or any equivalent of “starboard” or “right”, unless he intends that the head of the ship shall move to the right; or

(b) give a helm or steering order containing the word “port” or “left”, or any equivalent of “port” or “left”, unless he intends that the head of the ship shall move to the left.

(2) The Governor in Council may make such regulations in respect of the arrangement of steering wheels, indicators or tell-tales, as may, in his opinion, be necessary to carry out the intent of this section.

(3) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) or any regulation made under this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars and in default of payment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding one month.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 448.

388. (1) The owner of any line of passenger steamships registered in Canada, crossing the North Atlantic from or to any port in Canada by regular routes, shall give public notice, in such manner as the Minister may direct, of the proposed routes that ships belonging to the line shall follow, and of any changes that may be made in those routes.

(2) An owner described in subsection (1) who fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 449.

389. (1) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, declare that any goods, articles or materials to be carried in a ship are dangerous goods, and may prescribe

(a) the method of packing and stowing those goods;

(b) the quantity of those goods that may be carried in any ship;

(c) the place or places within a ship in which they may be carried;

(d) the marking that is to be placed on any package or container in which those goods may be placed for shipment;

(e) the precautions to be taken by persons engaged in the loading, unloading or stowing of those goods;

(f) the precautions to be taken by persons on or in the vicinity of any ship loading, unloading or carrying those goods;

(g) the powers of a steamship inspector in respect of any ship loading, unloading or stowing those goods; and

(h) such other requirement respecting the inspection of a ship carrying those goods as he deems necessary.

(2) No person shall send or attempt to send by or carry or attempt to carry in any Canadian ship, except in accordance with the regulations made pursuant to subsection (1), as cargo or ballast, any dangerous goods, but this subsection does not apply to ships’ distress signals or to the carriage of military stores for the public service under conditions authorized by the Minister.

(2.1) The Governor in Council may make regulations prohibiting the carriage by Canadian ships of goods specified in the regulations.

(2.2) Where the Board considers it to be necessary for the protection of public safety, property or the environment in any case not provided for by regulations made under subsection (1) or (2.1), the Board may, subject to any regulations made pursuant to subsection (2.3), give to any person engaged in sending or carrying goods considered dangerous by the Board, in any Canadian ship, directions to cease any such activity or to carry it on in the manner directed.

(2.3) The Governor in Council may make regulations providing for the notification of persons directed to do anything under subsection (2.2) and for the effect, duration and appeal or review of the directions and for any matters incidental thereto.

(3) No person shall send or attempt to send by, or, if he is not the master or owner of a ship, carry or attempt to carry in any Canadian ship any dangerous goods without distinctly marking their nature on the outside of the package containing the goods, in accordance with such regulations as the Governor in Council may make, and giving written notice of the nature of the goods and of the name and address of the sender thereof to the master or owner of a ship at or before the time of sending the goods to be taken on board the ship.

(4) The master or owner of any Canadian ship may refuse to take on board any package or parcel that he suspects contains goods of a dangerous nature, and may require the package or parcel to be opened to ascertain the fact.

(5) When any dangerous goods or any goods that, in the judgment of the master or owner, are dangerous goods are sent on board any Canadian ship contrary to this section, the goods may be thrown overboard, and neither the master nor the owner of the ship is, in respect of the throwing overboard of those goods, subject to any liability, civil or criminal, in any court.

(6) Where any ship has on board any goods in contravention of any regulations made under this section or of a direction given by the Board under subsection (2.2), the ship is liable to detention in accordance with section 392.

(7) Every person who contravenes subsection (2) or (3) is guilty of an offence and liable

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars; or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

(7.1) Every person who contravenes

(a) a regulation made under subsection (2.1), or

(b) a direction given by the Board under subsection (2.2) of which he has been notified in accordance with regulations made under subsection (2.3) or, in the absence of such regulations, of which he has received notification,

is guilty of an offence and liable

(c) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars for a first offence and not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars for each subsequent offence, or

(d) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

(7.2) Proceedings by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence under this section may be instituted at any time within but not later than two years after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

(8) No prosecution under this section shall be instituted except by or with the consent of the Minister.

(9) This section and the regulations made thereunder apply to all ships in Canadian waters and to Canadian ships in all waters.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 389; R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 56.

390. When any dangerous goods are sent, or attempted to be sent or carried, or attempted to be carried, on board any Canadian ship contrary to section 389, the Admiralty Court, on application by, or on behalf of the owner, charterer or master of the ship, may declare the goods forfeited and direct that they be disposed of as the Court directs.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 451.

391. (1) In every contract of service, express or implied, between the owner of a ship and the master or any seaman thereof, and in every instrument of apprenticeship whereby any person is bound to serve as an apprentice on board any ship, there shall be implied, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, an obligation on the owner of the ship, that the owner, the master and every agent charged with the loading of the ship, the preparing of the ship for sea or the sending of the ship to sea shall use all reasonable means to ensure the seaworthiness of the ship for the voyage at the time when the voyage commences and to keep the ship in a seaworthy condition during the voyage.

(2) Nothing in this section subjects the owner of a ship to any liability by reason of the ship being sent to sea in an unseaworthy state where, owing to special circumstances, the sending of the ship to sea in that state was reasonable and justifiable.

(3) Whenever in any proceeding against any seaman or apprentice belonging to any Canadian ship for the offence of desertion or absence without leave, or for otherwise being absent from his ship without leave, it is alleged by one-fourth, or if their number exceeds twenty by not less than five, of the seamen belonging to the ship that the ship is by reason of unseaworthiness, overloading, improper loading, defective equipment or for any other reason not in a fit condition to proceed to sea, or that the accommodation in the ship is insufficient, the court having cognizance of the case shall take such means as may be in its power to satisfy itself concerning the truth of the allegation, and shall for that purpose receive the evidence of the persons making the allegation, and may summon any other witnesses whose evidence it may think it desirable to hear, and shall, if satisfied that the allegation is groundless, adjudicate in the case, but if not so satisfied shall before adjudication cause the ship to be surveyed.

(4) A seaman or apprentice charged with desertion, or with quitting his ship without leave, does not have any right to apply for a survey under this section unless he has before quitting his ship complained to the master of the circumstances alleged in justification.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (3), the court shall require any surveyor of ships, or any person appointed for the purpose by the Minister, or, if such a surveyor or person cannot be obtained without unreasonable expense or delay, or is not, in the opinion of the court, competent to deal with the special circumstances of the case, any other impartial surveyor appointed by the court, and having no interest in the ship, its freight or cargo, to survey the ship and to answer any question concerning it that the court may think fit to put.

(6) The surveyor or other person referred to in subsection (5) shall survey the ship and make his written report to the court, including an answer to every question put to him by the court, and the court shall cause the report to be communicated to the parties, and, unless the opinions expressed in the report are proved to the satisfaction of the court to be erroneous, shall determine the questions before it in accordance with those opinions.

(7) Any person making a survey under this section has, for the purposes thereof, all the powers of a steamship inspector.

(8) The costs, if any, of the survey shall be determined by the court.

(9) Where it is proved that the ship is in a fit condition to proceed to sea, or that the accommodation is sufficient, as the case may be, the costs of the survey shall be paid by the person on whose demand or in consequence of whose allegation the survey was made, and may be deducted by the master or owner out of the wages due or to become due to that person.

(10) Where it is proved that the ship is not in a fit condition to proceed to sea, or that the accommodation is insufficient, as the case may be, the master or owner of the ship shall pay the costs of the survey, and is liable to pay to the seaman or apprentice, who has been detained in consequence of the proceeding before the court under this section, such compensation for his detention as the court may award.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 391; R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 87(F); 1998, c. 16, s. 10.

392. (1) Where, on complaint made to him pursuant to this section and sections 393 to 396 or without any complaint, the chief officer of customs at any port in Canada believes on reasonable grounds that any ship at a port or place in Canada is an unsafe ship by reason of the defective condition of its hull, equipment or machinery, or by reason of undermanning, overloading or improper loading, and is unfit to proceed to sea or to make any voyage or trip, without serious danger to life, that officer shall detain the ship until he is satisfied that it is a safe ship.

(2) Where any ship is detained under this section, the officer of customs who detained it may, before releasing the ship, demand that the owner or master have the ship inspected by a steamship inspector for any defects believed to exist, or by a port warden or other competent person named by the Minister in a case where overloading or improper loading is believed to exist.

(3) The owner or master may require that a person whom he may choose shall accompany the person making the inspection under this section.

(4) The steamship inspector, port warden or other person named by the Minister, who makes the inspection under this section, shall report fully to the officer of customs who has detained a ship under this section, and the officer shall report fully to the Minister, setting out all the particulars with respect to the detention, and his report shall be accompanied by a copy of the report of the steamship inspector, port warden or other person who has made the inspection.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 392; R.S., 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp.), s. 213.

393. Any complaint in respect of the seaworthiness of a ship shall be in writing, stating the name and address of the complainant, and a copy of the complaint, including the name and address of the complainant, shall be given to the owner or master of the ship at the time of detention if the ship is detained.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 454.

394. Before a ship is detained under section 392, an officer of customs shall assure himself by all means at his disposal that the complaint is not of a trivial or vexatious nature, and if the officer thinks fit to do so, he may exact from the complainant a deposit of money to defray the expenses of inspection and to pay any loss that may be sustained by the owner on account of the detention of the ship, or he may exact such security for the payment of such expenses or loss as he deems sufficient.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 394; R.S., 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp.), s. 213.

395. (1) Where, on inspection, it is determined that any ship detained under section 392 was not an unseaworthy ship, the expenses in connection with the inspection shall be paid to the Minister by the person making the complaint, and the payment does not prejudice any right of suit or action against the complainant by any persons aggrieved by the complaint.

(2) The provisions of this section in respect of payment of the cost of inspection do not have effect where complaint is made by members of the crew of the ship complained of if, in the opinion of the Minister, the complaint was not vexatious.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 456.

396. Where, on inspection, it is found that any complaint in respect of an unseaworthy ship was well founded, any expenses in connection with the inspection shall be paid by the owner, and the ship shall not be released until the expenses are paid.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 457.

397. (1) Any owner who is dissatisfied with the decision of any person who makes inspection under section 392 may appeal to the Admiralty Court and that Court may, if it thinks fit, appoint a competent person or persons to inspect the ship anew.

(2) On an appeal under subsection (1), the Court may make such order with respect to the detention or discharge of the ship, with respect to the payment, whether by the Crown or otherwise, of any costs or damages incurred by its detention and with respect to the payment of the expenses of the original inspection and of the inspection anew, as to the Court seems just.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 458; R.S., c. 10(2nd Supp.), s. 65.

398. Any person who makes an inspection under section 392 or 397 may, in the execution of his duty, go on board any ship at all reasonable times and inspect the ship or any part thereof, any of the equipment, cargo or articles on board the ship or the certificate of registry of the ship, and if that person considers it necessary to do so, he may require the ship to be so dealt with that he may be able to inspect every part of the hull, but he shall not for that inspection unnecessarily detain or delay a ship in proceeding on a voyage.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 459.

399. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for the protection against accident of persons employed on ships and in the loading or unloading of ships, and without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

(a) prescribing the standards for protective clothing and equipment to be used by persons so employed and respecting the use of and the responsibility for providing that clothing and equipment;

(b) respecting the ventilation and temperature of places in which those persons are employed and prescribing the minimum amount of space in which those persons may be required to work;

(c) respecting the guarding and fencing of machinery, equipment, wharfs and decks and openings through decks and the responsibility for providing safe gangways and stagings;

(d) respecting the illumination of holds and decks of ships and docks or wharfs at which ships are berthed;

(e) respecting the strength of machinery, tackle and gear, their fitness for the purpose for which they are intended and the manner of their use and operation;

(f) respecting the protection of persons so employed from fire and explosion; and

(g) respecting first-aid facilities, the provision of first-aid training and the services of first-aid attendants.

(1.1) Regulations made under this section may apply, if they so state, in respect of any ship as defined in Part XV but in no case does a regulation made under this section apply to ships capable of engaging in the drilling for, or the production, conservation or processing of, oil or gas unless the regulation so states and was made on the joint recommendation of the Minister and the Minister of Natural Resources.

(1.2) For the purposes of subsection (1.1), the words “oil” and “gas” have the same meanings as in the Oil and Gas Production and Conservation Act.

(2) Every person who contravenes any regulation made under this section is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 399; R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 57; 1994, c. 41, s. 37.